Now That's a Trade
Thanks to Detroit and Florida for putting a hop in every baseball fan's step this morning. A true blockbuster deal with top players headed one way for top prospects heading the other way. At its heart, two philosophies, each defensible in this instance.
From Detroit's perspective, no matter how highly thought of Cameron Maybin and Andrew Miller might be (or the other four minor-leaguers in the deal for that matter), there are no guarantees when it comes to their development or what they will eventually be. Particularly with regard to Andrew Miller, as top prospect pitchers are, at best, a crapshoot in terms of development. And, in return, they get the extraordinarily projectible Miguel Cabrera at 24-years-old and entering his prime. A no-brainer. Add in what is left of Dontrelle Willis (fully capable of a bounce-back year in a new league not used to his deceptive delivery) and they made out about as well as you can.
From Florida's perspective, we are used to this by now. Why are people no longer quite as critical? Because by doing this they put themselves in a position to win in fairly short order, and then tear it down again. It's what they do.
Since prospects are such a crapshoot, why does it work for Florida? On one level, because they have shown themselves more capable than a lot of teams at identifying, acquiring and developing talent on the cusp of stardom. On another level, because they appear fully aware of the arbitrary and capricious nature of getting prodigies to develop and acquire as many of them as possible. From a stockpile of potential talent, they have the one or two who develop. With Florida, it is about numbers of prospects in many cases that is important, as it is who the prospects are (to a certain point).
So, really, good aggressive move by both organizations, for reasons that make a ton of respective sense.
The view from Detroit is favorable (Mitch Albom makes more sense than usual).
The view from Miami? Used to this. As well they should be. Hell, in three years they may be World Series champs again. And, as Dan Le Batard notes, it's not like all that many people in Miami care.
